Deckertown Falls

A place to discuss waterfalls. Including the parks that house them and the hikes to get to them.

Moderators: Brenda, Kelly

Post Reply
spec
Senior Guide
Senior Guide
Posts: 386
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:09 am
Camera Model: Canon Rebel T1i / Samsung S730
Location: Endicott, NY

hobkyl wrote:For some reason the map isnt showing up from the link...yet it worked when I previewed it. Anyway...if you click on "Public Access" and then search properties along Havana Glen Road leaving the rest of the fields blank; a list of all properties on that road will come up. From there click the link for the first "Tax ID" which will bring you to a page specific for that property which you can find all tax related information on the property (ie: owner/address) Once you do that on the right side you will see "Maps". Click on "Show Tax Map (pdf) and it will bring up a map of the properties near the creek.

Excellent! I just spent the past hour and a half pouring over the maps and comparing with Google Earth etc... Looks like the park land continues on to about midway through the first south/east pair of turns I mentioned in my prev. post. Beyond that the creek is the property line between a large bit of farmland (parcel 87.00-1-59 on the southern side), and several parcels on the other side along Havana Glen Rd. The only two "of concern" on the northern side are 87.00-1-76 and 87.00-1-78. Looks promising! I think I'm going to attempt the hike before contacting landowners -- if it's posted, I'll turn back and make the necessary contacts. If it's not posted, then woohoo! ;)

And its NYFalls.com for the win _again_ in the quest of falling water!!! :)
-----
spec
spec
Senior Guide
Senior Guide
Posts: 386
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:09 am
Camera Model: Canon Rebel T1i / Samsung S730
Location: Endicott, NY

cbobcat49 wrote:I'm checking out Google Earth right now. I see all those twists and turns you're talking about. You're right, when a creek does that there's a good chance there's some falls in there. I'm wondering if there's a trail to the upper part of the creek somewhere near the campground in Havana Glen Park? (on your right as you're driving through the park towards the falls.)

I do see a trail on top of the left side of the gorge. And here's a question -- On Google Earth, I see two deep "gouges" along the stream, near the park proper, both with visibly larger falls. Which gouge is Eagle Cliff? Matt's GPS coords on the Havana Glen/Eagle Cliff page indicate that Eagle Cliff Falls is in the 2nd gouge upstream, but most of the pics in the Panoramio layer from Google Earth show it as being in the 1st gouge. With the limited viewing of Google Earth, it looks to me like the the first gouge more closely matches the pics. Again, the limits of Google Earth mean I could be way off, and having never been there before.... The trail I mentioned goes along the left side of the gorge between these two gouges. The lack of Bing imagery is killin' me! :)

I don't see anything along the right side, and if I read the tax maps correctly, the park doesn't own much land on that side beyond the mouth of the glen. Looks like they own a bit along the left side (where that trail is), though.
-----
spec
User avatar
cbobcat49
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 1807
Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 7:19 pm
Camera Model: Olympus Stylus 400
Location: Tonawanda, NY
Contact:

I do see that trail that you're talking about. Honestly, that could be just the regular trail you take to the falls. It's hard to tell where exactly it is elevation-wise when you're looking at something that's supposed to be 3D on a 2D computer screen. :| I think all the panoramio shots were placed there because whoever placed them put them at the first falls they saw on the creek. I think those first falls are the cascades you pass on the way to Eagle Cliff. Again, it's hard to tell when you're looking at it "compressed" on the computer. I'm now noticing there's a power line that approaches the glen from the north. I bet one could walk along that till you hit the edge of the cliff, then turn left (on that possible trail?) to get views of any potential other falls upstream.

Chris
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. ~Henry David Thoreau
spec
Senior Guide
Senior Guide
Posts: 386
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:09 am
Camera Model: Canon Rebel T1i / Samsung S730
Location: Endicott, NY

I attempted to check this out today. Things are a lot closer together than they appear to be on Google Earth. I don't know if there's any right-of-way along that power line or not, but it is REAL close to that house. Had there not been one of New York State's Boys-In-Blue driving behind me, I would have stopped and checked it out closer. :)

As it was, I stopped at Deckertown. Still a lot of ice, but I was able to get fairly close.

Image

Image
-----
spec
User avatar
hobkyl
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2671
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:55 am
Camera Model: Pentax K30
Location: Victor, NY

Youve got me itching!
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




Flickr Facebook
spec
Senior Guide
Senior Guide
Posts: 386
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:09 am
Camera Model: Canon Rebel T1i / Samsung S730
Location: Endicott, NY

hobkyl wrote:Youve got me itching!
I understand the itch! :) I've been itching all winter... I'm glad the good weather held through the weekend into the week. I had the day off, and it was beautiful out.... There was no way I WASN'T getting out there!
-----
spec
spec
Senior Guide
Senior Guide
Posts: 386
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:09 am
Camera Model: Canon Rebel T1i / Samsung S730
Location: Endicott, NY

This place is definitely worth visiting and revisiting. I went on another adventure today, starting at Buttermilk in Owego, back to Deckertown, Excelsior and Hector. Almost all the ice is gone everywhere, and the streams were flowing very swiftly. Deckertown was awesome today. I had a friend with me (not Ben) and we hiked up the trail, then along the gorge rim under the Rte 224 bridge and a little ways beyond that. The trail seems to fade out right before you get to the overpass, and on the other side, there's no defined trail and it gets into much rougher terrain. Being as wet as it is with all the wet and rotting leaves on the ground, we didn't dare go too much further because it was quite slippery in spots. I'm definitely coming back here in the drier weather and will attempt to go a bit further. What's really interesting is when viewed from the very bottom, the "2nd falls" in the background looks to be dropping off in a nice open amphitheatre. Viewed from the trail above, there's actually another small falls before it, AND the "2nd falls" is actually set back a short distance around a slight curve in the stream/gorge. The viewing angle from below is perfectly aligned so that you're looking straight through the middle of the curve, with the waterfall in the background. Makes [me] lose perspective of the gorge walls on either side.

The amount of water flow today was insane at all the falls I visited. Hector was incredible. I went down along the creek "shore" under the Rte 414 bridge to the other side where the DOT Right-Of-Way ends, and hopped into a little notch in the rocks right next to the middle drop, above the private property lines. The top of my head was just about level with the crest where I was standing. I found it amazing that this notch was like a "safe harbor". Almost dry, and with a very safe entrance/exit to the banks of the creek directly behind me, where it was quite dry with easy footing.. not really any more "dangerous" than one would expect a creek walk/waterfall climb would be. I noticed there's no Hector Falls topic -- I'll make one and post some pics there. Below are some of our pics from Deckertown today.

Awesome day!

The "first two" as posted before

Image

"In-Between Falls" - I roped off to a tree and walked down to another tree at the very edge of the gorge to get this shot

Image

This is between the first three falls and the Rte 224 overpass. In fact, the shadow at top center is from the overpass.

Image

Me propped against a downed log getting some pics (which didn't come out that good). If it hadn't been so slippery I would have gone down to the stream's edge. I'm sitting in a little channel coming off the hillside, and the ground to my right is pure slimy mud all the way down to the creek. I would have gotten down there no problem, but getting back wouldn't have been so much fun. I had left my pack with Michelle so I didn't have rope or anything "on me" to tie off anywhere. Next time....

Image

spec
-----
spec
User avatar
hobkyl
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2671
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:55 am
Camera Model: Pentax K30
Location: Victor, NY

Awesome Andy!
“There’s an inconsequentiality to our lives that living in the wilderness shows up. Mountain are real, they set their limits, they set ours. They expose us, make us vulnerable and strong at the same time. “
--Alison Wat




Flickr Facebook
Post Reply